Pretty Cheer Girl
What Am I to You?
Starter: Ready! Set… Go!
Kokona: You’ve almost caught up! Go-go, red team!
Kathrina: Team spirit has improved. Looks like the wind now blows in our favor!
Kokona: I’m sure it’s all thanks to the scavenger hunt race. Kathrina-chan, you lit a fire in everyone’s hearts!
Kathrina: Y-you think so? I did?..
Kokona: Absolutely! Kathrina-chan, you’re our goddess of victory!
Kathrina: Well, that’s an overstatement… but there’s some truth to it! My team will never know defeat!
Kokona: Yeah!
Kathrina: (Alright. Can’t say I fully get it, but if I was able to help it’s not half bad.)
Kathrina: (Then, bestowed with the blessing of the goddess of victory…)
Kokona: By the way, Kathrina-chan, what did you have to get in the scavenger hunt race?
Kathrina: What?!
Kathrina: (Oh no! I won’t ever be able to say that aloud!..)
Kokona: You asked me to come, so I followed, but why did you choose me?
Kathrina: (I can’t let her know! I have to come up with something! If she knew why…)
Kokona (in Kathrina’s imagination): Woah?! It was “a friend”?!
Kokona (in Kathrina’s imagination): Yay, Kathrina-chan, you finally see me as a friend!
Kokona (in Kathrina’s imagination): Now we can act like true friends do too, right?!
Kokona (in Kathrina’s imagination): We’ll always be together, just like Panda-chan and Sasuga-chan. We’ll go shopping, watch movies… Oh! I forgot the most important part!
Kokona (in Kathrina’s imagination): Kathrina-chan, I love you! Ehehe~, it’s a little embarrassing!~
Kathrina: (…that would absolutely happen! It would be so awkward I’d die!)
Shizuka: I was wondering about that, too. Means, it couldn’t have been anyone else.
Kokona: Right? Hey, Kathrina-chan…
Kathrina: R-red team, you can do it!
Shizuka: Hmm? Hehe.
Shizuka: Hey, Kokona! Why don’t we try to guess it?
Kokona: Sounds fun! Then, let us know if we got it right, Kathrina-chan!
Kathrina: (I’m not gonna do that!)
Kokona: Shizuka-chan! I have an idea! It was “a person from the same troupe”!
Kathrina: (Huh?! Right, I can just lie about it! I’ll pretend they’ve figured it out!)
Kathrina: That’s ri…
Shizuka: Hold up, Kokona. If it was just that, why didn’t she say it right away?
Kokona: You have a point!
Kathrina: (Ughh! Shizuka-a, that was uncalled for!)
Kokona: Well, then… Maybe, “a roommate” or “a classmate”?
Shizuka: Shouldn’t it be more specific?
Kokona: Aha! “A high-school girl living in a bathhouse”!
Shizuka: But that’s not something to be evasive about either. Rather, maybe… “a rival”?
Kokona: “A rival”?!
Kokona: Do you see me as a rival, Kathrina-chan?
Kathrina: (S-she’s getting closer, but I won’t give it away! I’ll keep a poker face!)
Shizuka: No, “a rival” is too abstract! A comrade who went with her through thick and thin! Written with the kanji for “a formidable opponent,” but read as “a partner.”
Kokona: How passionate…!
Shizuka: No, it might be an even deeper relationship! The one of mutual trust and support! If you should name such a precious bond forged over time, what would it be?
Kokona: Hmm… I see! Could it be a cherished…
Kathrina: Enough already! How long are you going to keep talking nonsense?! It was “a friend,” see, “a friend”! Satisfied now?!
Kokona and Shizuka: A friend…
Kathrina: (Oh no, why did I say it?!)
Kathrina: No, when I said “a friend,” I meant, well, you know, right, that! As in the old Japanese term, “a tea-drinking friend” *…
Kokona: Kathrina-chan!!!
Kathrina: W-what is it?! W-wait, your face is too close!
Kokona: You’ve just called me a friend, right? You finally see me as one!
Kokona: Kathrina-chan! I love you too!!!
Kathrina: What’s with that “too”?! Ahh, don’t hug me so tight!..
Shizuka: Hey! Aren’t you getting too close to my Kokona now?!
Kathrina: It’s not like I want to! Uwaaahhh?!
The term in question is 茶飲み友達 that literally translates to “a tea-drinking companion” or simply “a buddy,” but also has the second meaning that is “a spouse married late in life for companionship.” Choosing it doesn’t help Kathrina much, does it?
Does Being This Close Make Us Friends?
Kokona: Hey, Kathrina-chan, Kathrina-chan. It’s just the two of us, right? Let’s wash each other!
Kathrina: Huh?! Where did this come from?!
Kokona: I’ve always dreamt of washing each other with a friend~ ♪ I heard socializing naked is a great way to create a deep bond.
Kathrina: Who’d even say something so stupid…
Kokona: Lilja-san from Gingaza! I scrubbed her back the other day, and she said I was pretty good at it!
Kathrina: I’m perfectly fine washing all of my body myself!
Kokona: But there are parts you can’t see very well, like your back or back sides of your arms…
Kathrina: Stop right there! I don’t need your help!
Kokona: Hehehe~ We’re friends, so don’t be so embarrassed~ ♪
Kathrina: Shut it!
Kathrina: (I can’t take it anymore! Kokona’s way too close! It’s all because of that race!)
Kathrina: (If only I hadn’t let it slip that I had to get a friend, Kokona wouldn’t have gone all out with her power of friendship!)
Kokona: Soaping up~ ♪ Soaping up~ ♪ My dear Kathrina-chan~ ♪
Kathrina: (She’s been in an awfully good mood for the last few days and kept following me around. Moreover…)
Kokona & Kathrina: Ah!
Kathrina: (Now it’s awkward to look her in the eyes!)
Kokona: Ehehe, didnʼt your heart skip a beat when our eyes met through the mirror?
Kathrina: Uwaaahhh!!!????
Kokona: What’s wrong, Kathrina-chan?! Did the soap get in your eyes?
Kathrina: Thatʼs not the problem! Go wash yourself now! Iʼll rinse and be out!
Kokona: Huuh?~ Wonʼt you wait until Iʼm finished?~ That’s what a friend would do~…
Kathrina: Oh dear…
Kathrina: (Iʼm losing it, and itʼs all Kokonaʼs fault! I canʼt even relax properly despite being in a bath!..)
Kathrina: (Lukewarm friendship is useless anyway! My relationship to Kokona is of different kind…)
Kathrina: ...I wonder what she is to me…
Kathrina: (If she isnʼt a friend, do I see her only as a fellow actress? But if sheʼs merely a fellow actress, should we really take a bath together?)
Kathrina: (Maybe, a classmate? But you don’t expect classmates to live together. Then, a roommate?)
Kathrina: (No, wait. Not only are we colleagues, but also classmates and roommates?! If I think about it calmly, no matter how you look at it, she does seem to be…)
Kathrina: ...a friend?..
Kathrina: (What am I thinking?! Thereʼs no way we could be friends! Then… right… rivals! Thatʼs what we are!)
Kokona: Oh, Iʼve run out of soap.
Kathrina: You can take mine.
Kokona: Thank you, Kathrina-chan! Itʼs the same as mine~ ♪
Kathrina: Yeah-yeah…
Kathrina: Huh?!
Kathrina: (We even use matching soap?! At this rate, thereʼs no way I can deny being friends with her, is there?!)
Kathrina: (What should I do?! Do I really have no choice but to admit we are friends?! But then how should I look at her and behave around her now?!)
Kokona: Iʼll sit next to you?
Kathrina: Eek?!
Kokona: Ahhh~ Itʼs so soothing~... Itʼs a blessing Sirius dorms are in a bathhouse~
Kathrina: ...I-I guess.
Kokona: And I can relax here with my dear Kathrina-chan!
Kokona: Hehehe~ Weʼre friends now!..
Kathrina: (No, I shouldnʼt let Kokona rush things like that! It’s a matter of honor! Right now I donʼt even know how to treat her!)
Kathrina: I think you fail to understand something! Donʼt get all buddy-buddy!
Kokona: What?..
Kathrina: Let’s proceed more like colleagues! Got it?!
Kokona: So thatʼs how it is, youʼre right… Guess I got carried away thinking weʼve become friends…
Kokona: Sorry for causing you trouble…
Kathrina: No, I didnʼt mean it that way…
Kokona: …
Kathrina: (Now thereʼs awkward silence! Was I too harsh?! Kokona looks like sheʼs about to cry…!)
Kathrina: Ugh, thereʼs no reason to look so sad. Iʼm not saying we should stop being friends…
Kokona: What? You donʼt mind us being friends after all?
Kathrina: (Oh no! Iʼve done it again!)
Kokona: Yay, Iʼm so glad! Let me hug you!
Kathrina: Fine! Whatever! Go ahead if you like!
Kokona: Yeah, Iʼd love to! Because I really love you, Kathrina-chan!